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NASCAR insider: Winning Cup championship 'much more meaningful' than winning Daytona 500

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones12/19/24brianjones_93
NASCAR Trophy (1)
Sep 4, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; NASCAR Championship Trophy during the NASCAR Playoffs Media Day at the Charlotte Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The Daytona 500 is NASCAR’s biggest race, but is winning it better than winning a Cup Series championship? On The Teardown podcast, Jeff Gluck, NASCAR insider for The Athletic, said winning a Cup Series title is “much more meaningful” for a driver than becoming a Daytona 500 champion.

“I don’t think you have to win a 500 in this day and age to be considered a sort of legend,” Gluck said. “…The 500 is so much circumstances and chance. It’s not necessarily random, In a lot of senses, it’s being at the right place, right time and out of your control.

“…You want to win the 500 to have that notch in your belt and everybody call you Daytona 500 champion, but that’s not a legacy-maker at all in my opinion anymore. But whereas being called a NASCAR champion seems to carry a lot more weight even with the current playoff system.”

More on the NASCAR Cup Championship vs. Daytona 500 debate

Gluck discussed the topic with fellow NASCAR insider Jordan Bianchi, and it started when a fan asked if either Denny Hamlin won a Cup Series title or Kyle Larson won the Daytona 500, which would mean more to their respective careers. Hamlin has won the Daytona 500 three times but has yet to win a Cup Series championship. Larson won the Cup Series title in 2021 but has not won the Daytona 500.

During the 2024 season, Hamlin reached the Round of 8 of the playoff but fell short of the Championship 4. Last month, Hamlin reacted to missing out on competing in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race.

“I just didn’t have the ‘it’ that I needed,” Hamlin said about competing in the playoff race at Martinsville. “I didn’t have that extra gear that I could just go to to run faster. So, at that point what I try to do is run at 99% and try to keep myself, I wanted to try to gain any spot I could. I had the damnedest time trying to get around Austin Cindric who had stayed out. … But at that point I’m just you know, trying to grind this thing out, and try to get a caution to maybe chaos and choose on a restart and I find myself with a chance.”